Home page

Rich in History - Young at Heart

The idea of luxury accommodation in a historic building in the very heart of Porto has become reality: we have just opened the doors of Torel 1884 Suites & Apartments where we offer you 12 deluxe rooms and Suites in our former Palace. In addition, you can choose from our 11 unique Apartments located 200 metres away, on Rua das Flores, downtown Porto’s trendiest street.

Our stunning Palace dates back to 1884, and we have filled it with the spirit of the Portuguese explorers: travel the world by visiting Africa, America and Asia, and discover a different exotic theme in each room – from spices and silk to coffee, tea, porcelain and tapestry.

Let yourself be whisked away into the world of the Portuguese navigators as they travelled the world, discovering not only foreign lands but also exotic spices, new foods and superb materials within them. Embark on your own exotic journey and breathe in the spirit of the adventurers through our lavish materials, natural colours and exotic plants.

In Bartolomeu Bistro & Wine, an intimate and elegant yet relaxed space, we offer the perfect atmosphere to linger and sip a glass of fine Portuguese wine, accompanied by samples of typical Portuguese specialities.

Come and be part of what we are – a place to dream of the past, a place to celebrate the present.

A Place Full of History

The theme of “Torel 1884 Suites & Apartments” is that of the Portuguese discoveries and the exotic things, such as fabrics, materials, spices and animals that the explorers came across and brought back from their journeys to faraway lands. Hence, each of our 23 Suites and Apartments is named after one of them, such as porcelain, tea, or exotic birds. The idea was to showcase their origins through colours, fabrics, materials and light. With the focus on the roots of the discoveries, nature and earthly colours play an important part, using natural fabrics/materials such as linen, cotton, or silk and earth colours such as /ochre/sienna, green and brown to set the scene.

In the process of giving new life to these exotic materials, we also rediscovered a traditional Portuguese handcraft technique the “sirgarias”. The technique is in danger of disappearing, so we wanted to showcase this traditional art by representing it in each room, Suite and Apartment.

In order to create this world of discoveries, we have worked with a wonderful team of artists and designers, who all hail from Porto:

The design team responsible for the project was Nano Design from Porto, with whom we had already worked for our award-winning five-star art boutique hotel Torel Avantgarde. In this project, Nano Design was responsible for the design of the 47 individual rooms. For Torel 1884 Suites & Apartments, Nano Design came up with the ideas and also brought them to life, using only the very best materials.

The artist Jorge Curval, who also worked with us for Torel Avantgarde, completed the design of the rooms and public spaces with his own interpretations of the discoveries in his works.

The artist Joao Pedro Rodrigues created the installation at the entrance of Torel 1884, which depicts the material and the non-material world. Inspired by the theme of discoveries, he drew from the writings of Luis Camões´ classic “The Lusiads” (Os Lusiades”), Portugal´s national epic poem, which describes the voyages of discovery made by the Portuguese seafarers in the 15th century. He transformed the idea of the muses into the Goddess of Nature, representing the non-material world and all that goes with it: the spirits, how we feel about the world etc.